At least 49 'linked to MoD Afghan data breach killed'

At least 49 family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the Ministry of Defence’s mass data breach have been killed, according to research submitted to a parliamentary committee.

- Diane Taylor

The first on-the-ground research of 350 affected people in Afghanistan, the UK or elsewhere has found that, of the 231 who received notification from the MoD that their data had been leaked, 49 responded that either a colleague or a family member had been killed as a result of the data breach.

The research, submitted to the Commons defence select committee inquiry into the data breach, found that, of those surveyed, 200 of the 231 notified (87%) had reported threats made to themselves or members of their families, while 99 (43%) had reported a direct threat made to their life as a result of the data breach.

A total of 121 (52%) said that family or friends in Afghanistan had been threatened by the Taliban.